


Stay

by Tomhottland



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Clouis, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Louisentine, TWDG AJ, TWDG Clementine, TWDG Louis, TWDG Spoilers, The Walking Dead: The Final Season, twdg - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-28 02:33:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15698325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tomhottland/pseuds/Tomhottland
Summary: After AJ shot Marlon, the group doesn’t know how to react to all this new information and death. Clementine finds herself isolated away from the group trying to grasp all her pent up emotions when Louis finds her. They seek comfort from one another for different reasons, but it brings them closer together in the end.





	Stay

**Author's Note:**

> It’s come to my attention that there’s not enough Clementine/Louis writing out there. So I’ve decided to fix that.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

A vivid memory pushed its way into Clementine’s mind - so recent that every detail stood out like she was still in that moment. She wanted to run over things, about how things could’ve ended differently, but it all came down to same thing: death. A life had been taken, a friend to many, and she felt responsible. It wasn’t because she pulled the trigger, but she had raised a boy to do it. It could’ve been fixed. Marlon gave up and was willing to fix it, but before he had the chance he was robbed. Clementine didn’t blame AJ for pulling the trigger. He is a survivor. She raised him to be a survivor, but she never imagined him to take a life. It was something she had protected him from, and it was about the only thing she could, but here we are. Another failure added to her list, another mental scar forced onto her. 

Clementine closed her eyes, trying to still all her thoughts that just kept racing fast and faster. When she opened them, she was staring at Marlon who waved his gun around at his friends - his family. It all came racing back up to the point when the blood splattered across her face and hands. Marlon fell into her arms before slipping onto the ground. When she looked up, she saw her little boy standing with a gun looking innocently up at her, “What? I saved the last bullet for me?”

Clementine felt too much - it was something she hadn’t let get to her in awhile - but now all alone she allowed herself to feel every drop that rained on her. It felt hard to breathe, but holding all this emotion in was killing her. Moving her head down to her hands, she buried herself deep into her rough palms. Her throat burned as if she was screaming, but no one could hear it. To her, she felt like a time bomb. 

Perhaps she is one. Waiting to self destruct and take everybody in radius out with her. God, why does she think this way? Every place that’s good, every place she ends up at, she destroys it. Tears the people apart even when she doesn’t mean to. 

The cabin group - some stood against her while others welcomed her. In the end, her and AJ are the only ones standing. New Frontier, she destroyed them for everything they had and more because they robbed her of something. The one that hurt the most, her first group. All of them, dead. Those who were alive chased after her because she wanted her parents, and she got them all killed in the end. 

Sarita, Alvin, Omid, Pete, Kenny, Ben... Lee...

The list felt endless. So many more names are on that list. She didn’t want AJ burdened like she is, covered in both physical and mental scars that he’s too scared to let anyone fully in. 

The door opened behind her and swiftly closed. She knew someone else was now in the room with her, and she suddenly felt wrong. These people are grieving and she had no right to step on their feet while they did that, but she couldn’t move. “Clementine?” a low voice broke through the thickness. The voice grieved and was confused. It only added to the weight she felt. When she turned, she saw Louis peering up at her. Those brown eyes of his felt so welcoming in the beginning, but now all she felt was guilt. What was she meant to say to him? He just watched his childhood best friend get killed in front of him, and those words she spat about him like she knew him like Louis did?

Louis knew the good in Marlon. He understood his friend, trusted him. Fuck, this whole thing is fucked. It was some sick joke her mind was playing, and she’ll wake up to AJ smiling before he races off to color with Tenn. 

Clementine never did wake up to that. All she found herself doing was staring in those brown eyes that watched her. The guilt clawed at her like an animal in a cage. Snarling at her words that remind her of her failure, and she felt so open here - too exposed in this hall standing on the stairs. A part of her wanted to run away, but she knew she had to face this at one point, and that point was now. With a deep breath, she forced herself to trap her emotions and focus solely on Louis, “Hey...” her voice was so quiet against the thunder outside. 

It was unlike her to be so quiet, and Louis only met her two days ago. He knew something was wrong just by how she was acting. For the love of... whatever there is, he trusted her more than his best friend. Now look where he is. Others were so angry at Clementine, some wanted her and AJ out, but something about her made him want her to stay. Her and AJ could stay in his room if they wanted them out of that room. Just stay in these walls, safe, with him.

Clementine trusted Louis, god, she trusted him with her life. Out there, she pleaded him to go against his best friend - how could she do that? 

She lowered her eyes first, it was something she never did. It was so submissive of her. Clementine stared at her hands, counting her fingers, before she released a breath. Glancing back up, she noticed Louis hadn’t moved from where he stood at the bottom of the stairs. A heavy look burned in his eyes, and it encouraged her thoughts... almost provoked them. She wanted to talk to him, but what was there to say? I’m sorry I got your best friend killed? I’m sorry I said all those words? I’m sorry that I saw him as weak?

“I can leave,” she whispered into the night, “If that’s what you want...” Clementine trailed off as she met his eyes, suddenly not able to find the right words. 

Louis didn’t know if she meant this place or just this room, but either or he didn’t want her to leave. He has so many questions for this girl that need answers, “I don’t want you to leave.”

He could hear Marlon whispering in his ear right now. Playfully taunting him for being so soft with this girl, just like he had done the night he asked Clem if she had ever had a boyfriend. It wasn’t his fault he found this girl alluring and attractive. She was different from the others. It was like a time bomb, and he wanted to diffuse it before it exploded and there was nothing left but memories. 

Louis walked up the stairs to stand beside her. It was quiet for a few more seconds before Clementine spoke up, “I’m sorry.”

Those words made Louis freeze up. He hasn’t expected them from her, but hearing them made the reminder of the death hit him hard again. Though, when he looked over he saw Clementine’s stormy eyes. Even if it was two days ago that he first met her, and he sung Oh My Darling, to her.... he knew she wasn’t aware of her emotions. He was aware of his and he understood what he felt: sadness, grief, anger.

“I never thought he could do something like that, ya know? I knew him since we were little, and I thought I still knew everything about him,” Louis found himself rambling before quieting down again.

“This world changes people,” Clem responses softly as she looked over at him, “He was still your friend, even though he did what he did.”

Something sparked inside him as he looked at Clementine, “I don’t get it. He is still my best friend even in death, but it had to come out at some point... he just... he didn’t deserve to die,” Louis’s words came off more of a snarl towards Clementine. 

 

The thunder snarled above them as AJ stared at the group innocently, “What? I saved the last bullet for me,” AJ looked at Clem who was now covered in blood - in a boy who was too scared. AJ looked around at everyone and his eyes suddenly fell soft as he looked at Clementine.

Clementine felt sick to the stomach as she looked at AJ and realized she couldn’t protect him. It crashed over her so quickly she felt as if his parents were above her screaming. She held a hand on slowly and without knowing it shook, “AJ...” this perked his brown eyes to look at Clem’s where he suddenly frowned. He walked forward and lifted the gun to put it in her hand. She instantly put it away and grabbed AJ in her arms.

“What the fuck!” someone yelled, “He just killed him!”

“They need to leave!”  
“Woah, woah!”  
“They’re both murders!”  
“Calm down!”  
“Calm down? He just fucking killed Marlon! Why did he even have a gun?” 

Clementine covered AJ, wanting to protect him from all those words and the body. At first he squirmed, but then he stopped and relaxed in her arms as she stood up. Everyone fell silent, watching her carefully as she looked over her shoulder. Her eyes fell on Marlon’s body before looking up at everyone. Violet stepped forward, “W-We all need to calm down.... Clementine?” she looked Clem in the eyes, and suddenly Clementine felt like a stranger, “I think it’s best you go back to your room... we need to talk.”

Clementine nodded before walking towards the room. Once out of sight, her grip on AJ loosened allowing him to look up and watch sadly as they walked towards the room.

 

Clementine didn’t say anything as she lowered her eyes again, “Your silence makes me believe you think he deserved it,” Louis hissed and lifted his body from leaned over the railing to tower above her.

“No, I don’t think he deserved it,” she hissed back, offended that Louis thought that, “We all do stupid things to protect the people we love.”

“But he gave them away! Tenn’s sisters didn’t deserve to be given away like they were nothing to us!” Clementine looked up to see the anger blazing in his eyes behind his tears, “He didn’t even tell any of us... what if I had gone, or anyone else? Did he decide this by himself of which of us he was gonna give away?” He snarled and waved his hands around, “It just-“

“It just doesn’t make sense,” Clementine’s soft voice made Louis slowly drop his hands and release a heavy sigh, “Nothing makes sense anymore in this world. It never did to begin with. We just all learned how to deal with it, to cope with it, and we believe we do the right things... but some times it’s the wrong one and someone gets hurt...” Clementine suddenly felt dizzy, the painful reminder of her loss still weighed heavy on her heart. Lee was her caretaker in the beginning, and she wished she could go over and start all over again. Learn more things from him sooner than later. Not leave him...

Clementine turned and sunk down onto the floor in an attempt to cure her dizziness. Louis slowly followed her until he was sitting beside her, both of them staring ahead, “Why did you ask me to help knowing he was my best friend?”

This makes the guilt crash heavier over Clem as she looked up to meet his sad eyes, “I was hoping it wouldn’t end the way it did,” she admitted before looking back ahead of her, “I didn’t even think it would. It just... did,” Clem wanted to help Marlon, to help all these people, but before she could okay... “AJ’s not a murder,” Clem spoke up, “He’s just a little boy growing up in a world he shouldn’t.”

“Then you should teach him to have more fun instead of just focusing on surviving.” 

Clementine let his words sink in before turning to look at him, “You think I could teach him to have fun when we were barely alive out there?” she suddenly hissed at him, “We didn’t have much of a choice.” she looked away from him, trying to control her sudden anger at his comment. 

A hand pressed against Clem’s shoulder making her brace up, “What happened to you out there?” Louis whispered softly - wanting to soothe away her anger, “Clementine?”

“Too much,” she whispered softly as she closed her eyes, trying to stop the corrupted memories from breaking free.

 

“Clem? Are you mad at me?” AJ asked her once she set him in the bed. Clementine still didn’t say anything as she placed his gun on the nightstand, “Clem?”

“I’m not mad... just disappointed,” Clementine says as she looks over at AJ.

“I did what I had to,” he defended himself, not enjoying the burning feeling in his stomach. 

“You...” Clem couldn’t form the words as she tried to form a single sentence to express how she felt right now, but she couldn’t.

AJ took this as a fight and sat straighter on the bed, “You’ve done it! You just did it earlier today.”

“I did it to protect you,” Clementine looked towards AJ with a source of sadness filling her.

“and I did it to protect you too,” This makes Clementine frown as she looks back towards the gun sitting on the nightstand, “Are you really disappointed in me for killing him? He would’ve hurt you!”

“No, I’m not disappointed in you,” she whispered softly as she turned and tucked the blankets around AJ, “Try to get some sleep.”

“You’re upset,” AJ stated as he looked up at her, “I just want to be like you.” AJ whispered towards Clem.

Clementine looked at him, suddenly feeling understanding why she felt disgusted. It was never for what AJ did, but it was because of herself. All those things she’s done. She looked at him and brushed her fingers against his cheek as she looked him in his eyes, “and I want you to be better than me.”

 

A silence fills the air as Clementine slowly opened her eyes. The hand on her shoulder never left as she turned to see Louis looking at her. 

He slowly felt on tension in her shoulder fade as they just gazed into each other’s eyes: searching for answers. Louis felt lost as he let go of her shoulder and just gazed into her eyes, “What are we going to do? The raiders? AJ? You?”

Clementine could read it in his eyes. Louis was trying to put on an act, and she didn’t want him to, “Louis?” he hummed in response, “Today, you grieve for your friend. Tomorrow, we face those problems.”

“I thought you were the ‘plan ahead’ type of gal,” he tried to joke, but all of his normal sense of humor was gone. 

Clem gave him the smallest smile she could muster, “and I thought you were the ‘in the moment’ type of guy,” this makes Louis give her a soft smirk before sighing as his sadness comes back. 

Taking this as her time to leave the boy to grieve, she began to stand up, but Louis grabbed her hand to stop her, “I meant what I said. I want you to stay.”

Clementine slowly lowered herself back onto the ground with his words, “Then I’ll stay.”


End file.
